


There's Nothing In This World (I Wouldn't Do)

by Hockey_3720



Category: National Football League RPF
Genre: Concussions, Hospitalization, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, M/M, Major Character Injury, Post-Concussion Syndrome, Recovery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-17
Updated: 2018-04-22
Packaged: 2019-04-24 09:51:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 17,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14353023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hockey_3720/pseuds/Hockey_3720
Summary: “How are you so tired, Jules? You’ve slept so much this past week,” Danny replied and let out a chuckle.If it wouldn’t have given him a headache, Julian would’ve rolled his eyes. “I just… I just am. I think we should go to bed. I’ve missed sleeping next to you,” Julian whispered as he closed his eyes and carefully rested his head on Danny’s shoulder.“I can definitely say the same. Let’s get these shorts, your shirt and shoes off… And then we can go to bed… But just a reminder… I do have practice tomorrow.”





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

> I have no clue how many chapters this will be, but I hope you enjoy! :)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I know, Bubs, but you love me because of it,” Julian shot back as he watched one of the Panthers players make their way down the field, just missing the first down by a yard. He stood up and held his hand out to Danny. “Ya ready?”
> 
> “Let’s do this,” Danny asserted as he grabbed Julian’s hand and got up. He snatched his helmet up off the bench and began put it on as he ran out onto the field.
> 
> They all got into a huddle and Tom called a play, Julian and Danny just stared each other in the eyes-- not once breaking eye contact. “Alright boys, let’s fucking go,” Tom called out and the huddle broke.

“Let’s fucking go,” Danny yelled as he brought his hands up and slapped both of Julian’s upper arms. “Let’s do this!” 

“Fuck yeah,” Julian shouted back as he brought his gloved hands up and held both sides of Danny’s head in his hands. “We’ve got this, Dola!” 

The two pulled away from each other and began to run around to pump up their other teammates. “Alright Babe,” Danny mumbled a few minutes later once they were both sitting on the bench and watching kickoff. “First game, we got this! This is gonna be a great season!” 

Julian looked over at Danny with a large smile. “They’re all great… Especially when you’re by my side,” Julian replied as he bumped their shoulders together playfully. 

Danny blushed a bit as he looked down at his hands in his lap and shook his head. “You’re so fucking cliche, Jules.” He should be used to it, but he never gets used to Julian's cheesiness or his goofiness. 

“I know, Bubs, but you love me because of it,” Julian shot back as he watched one of the Panthers players make their way down the field, just missing the first down by a yard. He stood up and held his hand out to Danny. “Ya ready?” 

“Let’s do this,” Danny asserted as he grabbed Julian’s hand and got up. He snatched his helmet up off the bench and began put it on as he ran out onto the field. 

They all got into a huddle and Tom called a play, Julian and Danny just stared each other in the eyes-- not once breaking eye contact. “Alright boys, let’s fucking go,” Tom called out and the huddle broke. 

As they all got in their positions, Danny and Julian nodded at each other, and then they were off. Danny watched over his shoulder as Tom sailed the ball through the air and into Julian's hands without an issue. The younger man took off down the field, to the forty, then the thirty, then the twenty… In the corner of his eye, Danny saw one of his teammates get tripped up; it all happened in slow motion. 

Julian saw it coming but didn’t have time to turn his head. He was hit, a simple helmet to helmet. When the silver helmet crashed into his just the wrong way, it went flying up in the air and landed about 10 feet away. He was out before he hit the ground, the side of his face collided with the turf. The Panthers player was off of him in seconds. 

“Julian,” Danny screeched as he tore his helmet off and ran full speed toward his boyfriend, who was lying limp on the turf with the ball under him. He kneeled down next to him and put his hand on Julian’s back. “Holy fuck!” He looked up at Tom who stood next to him and motioned for the medical staff to come on the field. “Jules?! Babe? Please! Please answer me. No no no,” Danny mumbled as he kept his hands on Julian’s shoulder. 

The medics were almost instantly at his side, pushing him out of the way so they could examine his boyfriend's motionless body. 

“Julian, can you hear me,” one of the females, Kristin (Danny thinks), asked as she put her hand here Danny’s just was. She got no response from Julian, so she turned to one of the other medics and motioned for help to flip him over and mumbled about how they needed to get him on a stretcher. She checked his pulse and noted aloud to another medic that, thankfully, there was one. 

Someone put the spine board on the field next to Julian, and the next thing Danny knew was that Julian was being rolled over and shifted over onto the spine board. Danny’s brown eyes went wide and he nearly lost his breath as he looked down at Julian’s face. The side of Julian’s face was bloodied from its collision with the ground. The medics quickly got his neck and head stabilized so it couldn’t be jostled. Danny continued to watch as they lifted the spine board up and onto the stretcher. 

“Julian,” Kristin tried again. She grabbed his hand and said, “Julian, if you can hear me can you please squeeze my hand?” She waited for a few seconds before she turned to one of the medics and shook her head. 

At that moment, Danny swore he could feel his heart shattering-- was Julian going to be okay? What was wrong, exactly? Was he going to wake up? Danny took a shaky breath as a heavy hand was placed on his shoulder. He slowly looked away from his boyfriend who was being wheeled off the field and met the sad eyes of Tom. 

“He’ll be alright Danny,” Tom told him as he gave his best encouraging nod. “Now… Now let's win this for him? Okay? He’ll be so proud of us if we win.” 

Danny nodded a bit as his brown eyes became watery. “I-I… Yeah… You’re right,” he practically whispered as he brought one of his hands up and wiped at his eyes. “Lets… Let's do this for Jules.”

“That’s the spirit, Dola!” A small smile found its way onto Tom’s face as he lead Danny back to the huddle. Despite being worried, and now feeling sick, Danny played a fairly good game, with five touchdowns. He couldn’t help but admit how much he missed Julian though. He missed having him there to celebrate with him after touchdowns, of having him there to reassure him after dropping a pass. 

The night dragged on and on, Danny was thankful when they had won and the game was over. He was feeling completely whipped and wanted to get to the hospital to find out how Julian was. Danny sighed as he sat in his locker after his shower and glanced over to where Julian was normally sitting and cracking jokes. “Please be okay, babe… Just… Just please,” he mumbled to himself as he ran a hand through his dark hair. As he sat there, he looked down at his feet. He didn’t want to even look at his phone let alone think about his phone because he knew it’d have a million texts and calls. 

Danny jumped as a voice began to speak “Danny, you’re up for the presser.” Tom’s voice came from in front of Danny. 

“O-Okay, thanks Tom,” Danny mumbled as he stood up and sucked in a breath. His heart began to race as he made his way to the pressroom, and the minute he stepped in; the usual flashing of cameras hit him, however, one thing different than normal was the larger amount of questions being thrown at him… Just about every single one about Julian. 

The first question was actually about the game, and he was able to easily answer it without even batting an eyelash. The next question, however, was much much harder; “Danny, we all know that you and Julian have an established relationship. What were your thoughts when he went down and do you know if he’s okay?” 

Danny let out a long huff and shook his head. “I… I haven’t heard any updates about how he is yet… I mean… Obviously, I hope he’s okay… But… He's a uh… He's a strong person, I have no doubt that he’ll be back out on the field as soon as he physically can be,” Danny responded after a few seconds of thinking. 

Everyone began yelling at him again, all questions having to do with Julian. “Listen,” he spoke up over all the yelling-- and it completely stopped, “I don’t know what’s happening with Jules right now, so if possible no more questions.” 

No one spoke. Danny shrugged. “Okay, well thanks, guys.” He quickly shuffled out of the room and made his way to his locker to grab his bag. 

“Hey, Dola,” Josh McDaniels voice came from behind him, “I just got a call… He’s at Beth Israel… Room 208. Just tell the nurse your name and they’ll tell you what's happening.” 

Danny’s eyes widened. “It’s that bad,” he questioned as he felt like his breath completely left his body. Josh nodded. “I-I… They… Oh my god.” 

Josh nodded again and placed a hand on Danny’s shoulder. “Please drive safe, Dola. He’ll be fine, I promise. Like you said, he’s a strong person… He’ll be able to overcome it. We all know it.” 

“I-I… Yeah… Thanks, Josh. I’ll see you at practice tomorrow,” Danny mumbled as he lifted his bag onto his shoulder and then walked over to Julian’s and grabbed his. 

“No need. Take the day off man. I’ll see you on Wednesday at practice,” Josh responded as he made his way to his office. 

Danny sighed. He knew this wasn't going to be good, and he knew that Julian’s recovery time would probably take a while. They’ve never given him an extra day off… And more importantly, they’ve never sent anyone to that side of Boston, and that was a dead giveaway that something was more than just wrong for Jules. 

He just about ran out to Julian's car, because tonight was the younger man’s turn to drive. Danny pulled Julian’s keys out of his bag and unlocked it before he threw their stuff into the back seat. When he slid into the driver's seat, he sat for a few seconds and took a deep breath. “He’ll be okay Danny. He will be. And he’ll be even better when you’re there in one piece,” he told himself… Hoping his own pep talk would give him the strength to not break down. 

It was like he was on autopilot the entire way to Beth Israel, he didn’t remember a single thing about his drive there. Danny was only brought back to reality as he sat in a parking spot outside and an ambulance with its lights on went flying by. “Fuck,” he yelled as he hit the steering wheel and threw his head back. “Just let Jules be okay… Please!” 

He grabbed his phone from the cupholder and slid it into his back pocket as he climbed out of the car and began walking toward the front doors of the hospital. When he walked in he felt even sicker than he had since Julian went down. The smell of disinfectant made its way to his nose and the white walls and floors were too bright for it being nearly midnight. Danny slowly made his way to the stair and to the nurse's station on the second floor. 

“Uh… Hi… I’m Danny er… Danny Amendola. I’m here for Julian Francis Edelman,” Danny mumbled as the short blonde nurse looked up at him from her paperwork. 

“Alright.” Danny flinched at the squeakiness of her voice. “Mr. Edelman is in room 237-- we’ve moved him… You can go right in. He’s not awake yet, but I’ll let the doctor know you’ve arrived and then he’ll come in and fill you in on what’s happening with Mr. Edelman.” 

“O-Okay… Thank you,” Danny nodded as he turned to look which direction the 230’s were--to the right. He made his way down the hall and took a deep breath before he got to the door. There was a small window, but the bed was around the corner from the entrance. 

He sighed as he pushed the door opened and then closed it behind him. When he rounded the corner, his knees nearly gave out at the sight of Julian in the dark room. The younger man was lying in the bed with his eyes closed as the heart rate monitor next to him quietly beeping. As Danny got closer he noticed the scrape on Julian’s forehead was red and there was bruising around it as well as dark purple bruises on the side of Julian’s neck, where he took some of the hit. 

Danny collapsed in a chair next to the bed as he grabbed Julian’s hand. “Please be okay.”


	2. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Uh hi,” he greeted as he put both of his hands flat on the desk, “Julian Edelman in room 237 is awake… Doctor Fisher told me to tell you when he woke up.” 
> 
> The nurse leapt up from her office chair and nodded. “Yeah,” she said sweetly, “I can grab him for you, Hun.” She gave Danny an innocent little smirk and slid past Danny as she grabbed his upper arm and carefully brushed the front of her body against his. 
> 
> “He’ll meet you in the room,” she informed as she stopped a few feet away from him. 
> 
> Danny stopped himself from rolling his eyes as he let out a long sigh. “Thank you, I’m looking forward to an update on my boyfriend,” he emphasized the boyfriend part-- which earned a blush from the nurse before she went scurrying off. 
> 
> He shook his head and ran his hand through his hair as he made his way back to the room. When he got there he grasped Julian’s warm hand in his again and sat in the chair as he checked his watch. 4:35-- wow, that early? At least Julian was awake, and he got about four hours of sleep. (Something is better than nothing, okay?)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this is depressing. I'M SO SORRY.

Danny sat with Julian’s hand in his for nearly twenty minutes until the doctor came shuffling in. “Mr. Amendola, I presume,” a males voice came from the direction of the door. 

Danny looked up to see a tall gray haired man with a white lab coat standing at the foot of Julian’s bed with a clipboard in his hand. He let go of Julian’s hand and stood up to shake the Doctors hand. “Uh, yeah, that’s me,” Danny’s rough voice came out of his mouth quietly. The Danny’s stomach had butterflies, and not for a good reason. 

“I am Dr. Fisher. I will be Julian’s doctor throughout his recovery process,” Dr. Fisher informed as he shook Danny’s hand. Danny nodded, he was really beginning to feel sick. “You can take a seat, Mr. Amendola.” The Doctor was speaking quietly. 

Danny quickly took a seat as he kept his dark eyes locked on the doctor. “Now, Mr. Edelman took quite the hit during the game tonight… We did some X-rays and there are no broken bones, which is obviously very good. We also did an MRI on his head and neck, I don’t know how… But luckily Mr. Edelman doesn’t have any bleeding happening in his brain— which means a faster recovery than if he was bleeding. Now this brings me to the bad part, it looks like from the way he was hit, he has a slight tear of a muscle in his neck-- which is why he has some dark bruises there.” He motioned to Julian. “In addition to the tear it’s looking like he has a severe concussion, which isn’t a surprise, but we won’t be able to tell his exact condition until he wakes up and answers some questions. We also have him on some medications to ease the pain that we know is there. But, when he wakes up, it’ll probably be worse and we’ll have to up the dosage.” 

Danny swore he stopped breathing four times as the doctor filled him in on Julian’s condition. Why Julian? Why did this have to happen to the love of his life? “D-Do you know when he will wake up,” Danny asked after he trusted himself enough to speak. 

Dr. Fisher shrugged and let out a short breath. “It can be anywhere from right now to the next few days. I’d say he’ll wake up sooner rather than later, though. We’re going to need to keep the shades closed as well as limit the amount of people in here so there isn’t much sound. We’re still not sure how bad his condition is, so it’s best to keep all of the things that may irritate him at a low, especially for when he wakes up,” Fisher informed as he pursed his lips. “Do you have any other questions, Mr. Amendola?” 

“Uh… You can call me Danny… But uh yeah, I do,” Danny swallowed the spit that was pooling in his mouth. “Uh… Will Jules lose his memory?” His muscles tensed, because he was scared to hear what the doctors response would be… He was scared to even think about Julian not remembering him… He was scared in general of losing Jules. He knew that even if Julian didn’t lose his memory… He was still at risk of having a different personality as a result of having his brain injured. Danny wasn’t just scared… He was terrified. 

“Well, he may have some short term memory loss, but based on the scans we did, he shouldn’t be too affected by memory loss. However, every concussion is different, so I supposed we will find out when he wakes up,” the doctor replied was a reassuring nod. 

“Okay, thank you Doctor. That’s all I had,” Danny mumbled as he turned his attention back over to Julian’s body. 

“He’s in good hands Mr. Amendola,” Dr. Fisher informed as he let out a sigh. “Please let a nurse know when he wakes up… Then we can examine his condition and determine the best road to recovery. 

Danny gave him a slight nod before he made his way out the door. He reached over and grabbed Julian’s hand again. “I miss your blue eyes, Babe… Please wake up. I miss you,” Danny whispered as he placed a light kiss on Julian’s hand. He couldn’t stand to look at the red puffiness of the scrape on Jules’ head. He shook his head. 

Danny yawned and leaned forward, where he placed his head next to Julian’s hand on the bed. He was asleep in the matter of seconds. Playing a football game and worrying about your injured boyfriend takes a lot out of you, who knew? 

*** 

When Danny woke up, there was a warm hand on top of his. He sucked in a breath, opened his eyes, closed them, and then opened them when he realized the hand was on top of his-- not vice versa. He slowly lifted his head up and looked at Julian, who had his eyes closed. His breathing pattern wasn’t normal, he seemed as if he was in a lot of pain… Which if he was awake; he probably was in pain. 

“Jules,” Danny whispered quietly. Julian flinched which caused Danny to sigh. “Are you awake?” Danny was being as quiet as he could but Julian flinched again, which told him he was definitely awake. After a few seconds, Julian opened his eyes a bit, just enough that Danny could tell he was trying. “Shh Shh, Babe… Close your eyes... I’ll go get the doctor.” 

Danny squeezed Julian’s hand before he got up… And Julian squeezed back, which told Danny that everything was going to be okay. He quickly made his way out of the room and to the nurses station, where a brunette was now sitting instead of the blonde from earlier. 

“Uh hi,” he greeted as he put both of his hands flat on the desk, “Julian Edelman in room 237 is awake… Doctor Fisher told me to tell you when he woke up.” 

The nurse leapt up from her office chair and nodded. “Yeah,” she said sweetly, “I can grab him for you, Hun.” She gave Danny an innocent little smirk and slid past Danny as she grabbed his upper arm and carefully brushed the front of her body against his. 

“He’ll meet you in the room,” she informed as she stopped a few feet away from him. 

Danny stopped himself from rolling his eyes as he let out a long sigh. “Thank you, I’m looking forward to an update on my boyfriend,” he emphasized the boyfriend part-- which earned a blush from the nurse before she went scurrying off. 

He shook his head and ran his hand through his hair as he made his way back to the room. When he got there he grasped Julian’s warm hand in his again and sat in the chair as he checked his watch. 4:35-- wow, that early? At least Julian was awake, and he got about four hours of sleep. (Something is better than nothing, okay?) 

“I love you, Jules,” Danny comforted as he looked at Julian, even though he didn’t open his eyes. Instead, Julian resorted to letting a long breath out of his nose as a response. 

Danny shook his head as he kept his eyes on Julian’s face, wishing the pained look would leave it, and the red scrape didn’t look so fresh or painful. The sound of the door opening and closing stole Danny’s attention and he turned to look where the doctor was coming from around the corner. 

He nodded at Danny and slowly made his way to the otherside of the bed. “Hello Julian,” Dr. Fisher said, louder than Danny thought he should be speaking. Julian, of course, flinched at the loud noise. “I’m Dr. Fisher. Can you open your eyes for me? There aren't any bright lights in here.” 

Julian let out another long huff before he attempted to open his eyes again. This time, he was able to open them a bit more, and Danny felt relieved that he could see Julian’s blue eyes in the very dimmed room. “Okay, good, now please don’t move, you could hurt yourself further… can you speak?” 

After a few seconds Julian blinked and opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't speak because his throat was too dry. “Alright, is your throat too dry? Would you like a sip of water? Blink for yes, close your eyes for no.” 

Danny watched as Julian blinked, and he had to admit he was relieved. The doctor quickly turned around and grabbed a paper cup by the sink and filled it. “Danny, would you like to give this to him?” 

His eyes went wide, but he still nodded. He didn’t want Julian to feel like he didn’t care about him. Danny stood up and grabbed the cup before he brought it to Julian’s lips and let the younger man sip from it. Surprisingly, Julian downed the entire cup. Danny thought that was a good sign. 

As soon as the cup was away from his mouth, Julian grumbled, “What hap-pen?” Danny knew it was bad that Julian didn’t remember what happened, but he was happy that Julian was actually able to speak, because he missed his voice like no one could ever understand. He sat back down in the chair and grabbed ahold of Julian’s hand. 

“Well Julian, I’m going to run through some protocol questions first, and then I can answer any questions you might have. Is that okay,” The doctor questioned as he lifted his clipboard and looked at Julian with concerned eyes. 

Julian’s blue eyes quickly darted to Danny, who was looking at the doctor before he attempted to nod, but couldn’t because of the pain in his neck. “Yeah.” 

“Okay, What is your full name?” 

“Julian… Julian Francis Edelman,” Julian said slowly, almost forgetting his middle name. 

The doctor nodded. “What is your date of birth, Julian?” 

“Er… May… 22nd… 86?” It came out as more of a question than an answer, which worried Danny. 

Dr. Fisher wrote down something on his clipboard as Danny drew little circles on Julian’s hand with his thumb. “Alright, do you know what day it is?” 

Julian slowly closed his eyes, but then opened them again after a minute. “I-I… Sometime... in September?” 

Danny sighed as he grasped Julian’s hand a bit tighter. “O-Okay… What is the last thing you remember?” To Julian, the doctor's voice was starting to become fuzzy and he didn’t know why. 

“Sitting on the bench with… With D-D… And--,” Julian’s whole world went black before he could finish his sentence. 

“Jules!?! Babe?” Danny hopped up from his seat and looked down as Julian with panic rising in his chest.

Dr. Fisher sighed as he shook his head. “This is normal, Danny. Please hit the nurses button when he comes to again.” And just like that, the doctor was out of the room. 

Danny collapsed back in his seat and threw his head back. “Please, Babe… Please wake up. You’re really scaring me.” 

Thirty minutes later, Julian was awake again and Danny almost instantly hit the nurses button. Within minutes, the doctor came shuffling back in. “Ah, Julian, it’s great to see you back with us,” Dr. Fisher greeted as he walked in and looked at Julian. 

“Again?” Julian had a look of pure confusion playing on his face. 

“What is your full name, Julian?” 

“Julian Francis Edelman.” He didn’t miss a beat-- Danny was proud. 

“Okay, good… Now, what’s your birthday?” 

“May 22nd 1986,” Julian informed within the matter of seconds. Danny began to feel more hopeful as he held Julian’s hand a bit tighter. 

“Do you know what today is, Julian?” 

“Uh… Sometime in September… I think…” 

“You’re right, Julian… What is the last thing you remember?” 

“Sitting on the be-,” Julian began but cut himself off as he closed his eyes and his face screwed up in pain. “Hurts.” Danny’s heart began to race-- Not again! 

The doctor sighs. “I know it hurts Julian… But bare with me… I just have a few more questions,” the doctor informed as he shifted his weight from one foot to another.

“Kay,” Julian slowly let out as he opened his eyes-- they were now really glassy and his pupils looked out of whack.

“What is this young man’s name, next to you?” Dr. Fisher asked as he nodded over toward Danny. 

Julian moved his eyes over to Danny, and stared at him for a few seconds. Then, without any emotion on his face whispered, “Dola.” Julian’s eyes fell closed as he added on: “Love him”. 

Danny didn’t know if he should’ve felt happy or sad that Julian didn’t remember his first name. He sighed and looked over at the doctor who was too busy looking down at his clipboard. 

“Okay, one last question, Julian.” Julian’s eyes opened again as he looked at the doctor with a sleepy look. “Where is the pain coming from?” 

Julian opened his eyes again and blinked a few times before he spoke again. “Head… Neck… Back… Achy.” 

“Alright Julian. Thank you. Now, you were hit in the head in your game last night… And now you’re in the hospital… You have a concussion,” Dr. Fisher informed as he looked at Julian with raised eyebrows. Danny looked at Julian, who didn’t seem like he registered a single word out of the doctor's mouth. “I’ll have a nurse get you some medication. Meanwhile, you can go back to sleep. I’ll have a nurse come in and check on you every 45 minutes to an hour, too.” 

Julian didn’t even respond as he began to drift off again. Danny sighed as he shook his head-- he was really beginning to get worried-- was this normal? “Danny, can I speak to you for a few minutes in my office please?” The doctors voice was soft and understanding

Danny looked over to his sleeping boyfriend but got up with a small nod. “Yeah.” He began to follow the doctor out of the room and to his office, with clammy hands and an uneven breath from nervousness. 

“You can have a seat,” the doctor informed as he walked around his desk and took a seat in his office chair. Danny sat down in the chair in front of him and watched as the doctor looked down at his notes… “Okay… So… We’ve definitely got a severe concussion on our hands. The road to recovery is looking like it will be a rather long one based on his hesitancy when answering questions. In addition, he also didn’t say many full sentences. That’s normal though, so no need to panic.” He must’ve seen the worry in Danny’s eyes. 

“What are the next steps then?” Danny’s voice shook as he asked the question. 

“We’ll keep him here for observation for at least another two days… To make sure he doesn’t have a stroke… or seizure… At that point he’ll be able to go home. The first 3ish days, I’d say don’t leave him alone for more than two hours. He’ll need to be in a dark area with no noise. Even something as little as a fish tank can bother someone with a concussion.” 

“Will… Will he be able to walk?” Danny questioned with worried eyes. 

“He shouldn’t have a problem with walking. He’s pretty sore right now, so I don’t think we’ll try to get him up until tomorrow at the earliest. Now, we won’t really know until he moves, but my guess is once he’s not completely stable, his headaches will probably get worse… He may experience nausea too… His answers may be delayed for a while too, just as he was when I was talking to him,” Dr. Fisher informed as he looked at Danny with an eyebrow raised. 

“I… Oh god… Okay…” Danny ran a hand down his face as he shook his head. This was going to be a rollercoaster and he knew it. “Is it… Is it okay to have people come visit him?” 

Dr. Fisher nodded. “Yes, but no more than three people in there at a time. We don’t want him to get overwhelmed and have a panic attack. The meds we’ll give him will help him through the rest of today, and then we’ll try our best to slowly get him off of them. He may complain about a pounding in his head… And that’s completely normal… But we’ll still keep an eye on it. It’s normal for people with concussions to not finish sentences or just drift off and not listen… So I wouldn’t be alarmed by it.” 

All Danny could do was nod. He just wanted his Julian back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please, Please, Please let me know what you thought! Feedback is greatly appreciated!


	3. 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tom 8:01  
> Gronk and I are outside the room. Is he awake? Don’t want to knock. 
> 
> Danny glanced over at Julian to see he was still asleep, with his mouth hanging open and a bit of drool coming out of the corner. He sighed as he stood up and wiped the drool away with his hoodie sleeve before quietly shuffling out of the room. Just like Tom had said, he and Rob were standing outside. 
> 
> As Danny closed the door behind him and stood in the hall with the two much taller men, he made eye contact with Tom’s worried blue eyes. “You look like shit, Dola! When was the last time you took a shower? When was the last time you ate?” 
> 
> He rolled his eyes and stuffed his hands into his hoodie pockets. “Shut up. I don’t look that bad!” Danny really didn’t like it when people scolded him like Tom was. He’s an adult… He can take care of himself… And Julian for as long as it took. In reality though, he couldn’t help but question the last time he actually ate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I'm sorry again... It just keeps getting worse and worse.

Monday, for Danny, was pretty uneventful. He spent most of the day sitting by Julian’s side as he texted all of their friends and family updates on Julian’s status. One thing that was a somewhat highlight of Danny’s day, though, was encouraging Jules’ mom that Julian was okay and that she didn’t need to fly across the country to help out. 

Danny knew how much Julian loved his mother… But he also knew how stressed out Julian could get when she was around helping out when the two could just figure things out on their own. Danny knew stress was the last thing Julian needed, and how it could make his pounding headaches much worse as well, so he took putting her at ease as a mini victory. 

Monday, for Julian though, was somewhat eventful. They were able to keep him awake long enough to get him to sit up and work on four to five word sentences. It wasn’t much, but it was progress. Other than that, Julian was asleep about 75% of the day because of all the pain meds that he was on. 

Even if Julian wasn’t actually able to say it or express it, he was very thankful for Danny being there… Every. Single. Time. he woke up. Each time he woke, he knew where he was but it took him a few minutes to clear his mind, put aside the pounding in his head and the ringing in his ears-- which made his headaches even worse. He also felt bad for Danny, because whenever Danny would try to speak to him he would give the shortest answers… But he couldn’t help the fact that it hurt his brain to make sentences as well as it just hurt his head to just talk in general. 

“I love you, Jules,” Danny said at one point in the day, Julian had no clue when, and then Danny lightly kissed his hand. It was like the warmth of Danny’s lips on his hand sent shocks through his body. 

In any other situation, Julian would be begging for a kiss, begging to feel more of Danny’s warm touch… But, Julian did feel accomplished when he built up his courage and gripped Danny’s hand tightly before responding. “Love…” He winced in pain but kept his blue eyes locked with Danny’s beautiful brown ones. “You.” He also didn’t miss the little bit of excitement that was present in Danny’s eyes when he responded with that. 

He’d give up his entire career to see the joy the overtook Danny’s face when he said that. He really wanted Danny to be happy, but wasn’t completely sure if Danny could truly still be happy… or even love him back while he was still lying in the hospital bed barely speaking. He didn’t think Danny would be able to stay with him if he never bounced back. He tried to not think about it too hard, though, because it made both his head and his heart hurt-- but then again, everything at this point hurt his head. 

Tuesday was much more eventful for the both of them. At 8 am, Danny’s phone vibrated in his pocket… And when he pulled it out he saw that he had a text from Tom. 

Tom 8:01  
Gronk and I are outside the room. Is he awake? Don’t want to knock. 

Danny glanced over at Julian to see he was still asleep, with his mouth hanging open and a bit of drool coming out of the corner. He sighed as he stood up and wiped the drool away with his hoodie sleeve before quietly shuffling out of the room. Just like Tom had said, he and Rob were standing outside. 

As Danny closed the door behind him and stood in the hall with the two much taller men, he made eye contact with Tom’s worried blue eyes. “You look like shit, Dola! When was the last time you took a shower? When was the last time you ate?” 

He rolled his eyes and stuffed his hands into his hoodie pockets. “Shut up. I don’t look that bad!” Danny really didn’t like it when people scolded him like Tom was. He’s an adult… He can take care of himself… And Julian for as long as it took. In reality though, he couldn’t help but question the last time he actually ate. 

“Danny,” Tom reached out and placed a hand on Danny’s shoulder. “I’m sorry… Just… We care about you… We’ve lost Jules… We still need you.” 

Danny let out a huff and gave Tom an expressionless look as Tom’s hand fell off his shoulder. “I know… I just… This…” He motioned to the door. “It’s hard seeing him like this… I don’t want to leave him.” 

Tom sighed, as did Rob, as they looked down at Danny with sad eyes. “Did you sleep at all the past two nights,” Gronk finally spoke up as he raised an eyebrow. “It looks like you can barely keep your eyes open.”

“I mean…” Danny shrugged sleepily. “Maybe like 9 hours between both nights… So… It’s better than nothing. Doc said he can probably go home on Thursday. Originally it was Wednesday… But they really want to make sure he’s okay. He hasn’t made much progress.”

“Can we see him,” Tom quickly asked as he looked over Danny’s shoulder and through the window on the door that looked into the dark hospital room. 

Danny sighed. “I-I… Yeah… He’s still sleeping right now… But,” he lifted his arm up to look at his watch, “The nurse should be coming in to check on him any minute. I think it’d be less overwhelming if he were awake first, and then you guys come in.” 

The two taller men nodded in agreement. “Is there anything we should know before we see him,” Tom questioned as he shifted his weight from one foot to another. He didn’t want himself, but more importantly Rob’s, expressions to possibly scare Jules when they saw him. 

“Uhm,” Danny looked down at his tennis shoes and then back up at the two. “He’s still unable to put together complete sentences without being helped… And he’s trying not to talk too much because it gives him really bad headaches on top of the pounding in his head. The turf burn is beginning to scab over so it looks a little nasty… The bruising on the side of his neck is starting to turn a deep yellow… And it looks really painful…” 

“Oh shit,” Rob let out with his brown eyes wide. “Minitron is gonna be okay, right? That all sounds really rough.” 

Danny bit his lip, because lord help him (And Jules) he really hoped everything was going to be okay. “He should be fine… Doc said that it’ll take time… But… It could take a while,” Danny’s brown eyes soaked of sadness, and both Rob and Tom could feel the sadness radiating off of him. “But please… For the love of god… No sound on your phones and turn the brightness as low as possible. And don’t talk too loud. He was bothered so much by the heart rate monitor that they actually had to turn the sound off of it.” 

Tom stood there, dumbfounded. “Are you kidding? I’ve heard of bad concussions… But nothing that bad. I just… Oh god.” 

“Hi Danny,” the same blonde nurse from the first night greeted as she approached the three football players. “I’m about to check on him, do you want to be there?” 

Danny quickly nodded. “Yeah. Yes please Sarah,” Danny responded as he nodded at the guys. “I’ll be right back.” Then he quickly followed the nurse in. 

When they walked into the dark room and turned around the corner, they saw Julian still fast asleep in the bed with more drool coming from his mouth. Danny sighed as he wiped it away again, then plopped down next to Julian and grasped his hand.

“Julian,” Sarah began as she grabbed ahold of his shoulder, and spoke louder than people have been talking around him-- Just like she has been the past few hours. “I need you to wake up Hun.” 

His breathing pattern quickly changed and he gripped onto Danny’s hand as his eyelids opened, revealing his sleepy beautiful blue eyes. “Huh?” 

“I just wanted to check on you. I’ll be back soon… Okay? Do you need anything,” she asked as she leaned closer to him so she could speak softer. 

“No.” He painfully turned his head so he could see Danny. Danny swore he could see the edge of Julian’s lips tip but just a bit. 

“Okay, I’ll be back to check on you soon, hun.” 

“Are you up for visitors, Jules,” Danny asked softly as he raised both his eyebrows and ran his thumb over the back of Julian’s hand. 

Julian blinked. “I… S-Sure.” Danny was really beginning to miss the personality that Julian normally had in his voice-- everything was monotone… And it didn’t sit with him the right way.

Danny squeezed Julian’s hand again, then stood up. “Okay, babe, I’ll bring them in.” He let go of Julian’s hand and walked to the door, where he opened it and peeked his head out. 

“You guys can come in,” he whispered as he opened the door all the way. 

Both Tom and Rob nodded as they made their ways inside, but they stopped so Danny could lead them in. Neither of them knew what exactly to expect, but it tore both of them apart to see Julian lying in the hospital bed with his sleepy eyes open, the large scrape on his face and the bruise on his neck. More importantly; it tore them apart to not see his goofy-sarcastic smile that he always seemed to have on. 

“Hi Jules,” Tom was the first to speak. Julian’s eyes opened a bit, at the recognition of the voice. “You scared us, Babe.” 

“S-Sorry,” was all Julian could get out as he quickly looked over to Danny, who was now sitting in the chair again. 

“Hey Minitron, you look like you’re doing good,” Rob greeted with his normal bright eyes. 

“I guess,” Julian replied numbly. Danny sighed-- were they ever going to make progress? Was Julian ever going to be able to say a full sentence? 

“Do you recognize them, Julian,” Danny questioned as he grabbed ahold of Julian’s hand again. 

“Yes. Rob’n’Tom.” 

“They came to check on you. Can you at least say hi to them, babe,” Danny coaxed as he raised both eyebrows. 

“I’m… I’m sleepy, Dola,” Julian managed to get out. Danny’s heart began to race. This was the first real sentence that Julian seemed to put together without anyone's help. 

“It’s okay, Jules… You can go to sleep. We’re going to go and grab some breakfast with Danny, okay,” Tom intervened after a minute. “We’ll be here when you wake up.” 

“Kay.” His eyes were closed within the matter of seconds. 

Danny furrowed his eyebrows as he looked at Rob and Tom. Tom motioned for him to follow them out of the room, so he stood up. He leaned over and placed a light kiss on Julian’s forehead, just above the scarring scrape. “I’ll be back, babe. I love you.” 

Twenty minutes later, Tom, Rob, and Danny were all sitting in the lobby of the hotel drinking coffee, well Danny was eating a muffin, too… only because Tom forced him to eat something. “Was that progress,” Rob asked as they sat down. 

Danny sighed and nodded. “I-I… Yeah… I don’t think they’ll let me take him home on Thursday… I-I… I have to go to practice tomorrow… and… I don't know. They said they’re gonna try to get him out of bed today. I don’t see how… He’s still really sleepy.”

Tom sighed. “I’m sure they’ll lower the dosage of some of the pain meds… Cuz that’s what’s making him so sleepy right now,” Tom informed as he gave Danny a reassuring look. 

“I don’t think that will happ-” Danny’s phone began to vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it out to see it was the doctor. “Hello,” Danny instantly answered when he saw who it was. “Is… Is he okay?” 

“Yeah, Danny, everything is fine. I just went to check on him and was surprised you weren’t there… I wanted your permission to get him out of bed, so he could walk as far as the bathroom with in the next hour or so. He’s actually awake now… And was asking if he could walk.” 

Danny’s eyes widened as he hopped up from the couch. “Oh! Yes. I-I’m in the lobby… I’ll be right up!” 

“No need to rush, Danny. He’ll still be here when you get here,” The doctor informed with a small chuckle from the other end. 

“Okay… Thank you Doctor,” Danny thanked before he hung up and looked excitedly over at Tom and Rob. 

“Doc is gonna get him ready to walk. I guess he was asking to walk! And he’s awake now,” Danny informed with wide, excited eyes. It felt like it was Christmas morning. 

“Well, what are we waiting for,” Rob asked as he hopped up. He had a big smile on his face. Tom quickly followed suit and got up as well. 

“Let’s go get our boy walking,” Tom asserted as he looked down at Danny. “C’mon, Dola!” 

The three men rushed up the stairs… And when they got into the room… There was a completely different Julian sitting in the bed in front of them. “Hi, guys,” Julian greeted within the matter of seconds of them walking into the room. 

Danny would be lying if he said that he didn’t lose his breath at seeing some of the old Julian again. “Hi, Babe, you ready to walk.” 

Julian’s eye kind of lit up at the word ‘walk’. “I’m… I’m sore… But… Y-yeah.” Danny felt like crying at that. Where had this Julian come from? Who the hell flipped the switch. 

“Hello everyone. How are you feeling, Julian,” Dr. Fisher greeted as he made his way inside with a new nurse next to him.

“Achy.” Oh-- back to the one worded answers. 

“We had to bring down your dosage so you wouldn’t be so sleepy… So that’s expected.” Danny’s eyes darted to Tom who only smirked at him. Danny rolled his eyes. “Are you ready to get up?” 

Julian’s eyes widened. “Yeah!” Another one worded answer… But Danny would take it because he definitely had an expression on his face. 

“Okay, Julian. Do you want me or Danny to help you along with nurse Patty,” the doctor asked as he raised an eyebrow. 

“Dola, please,” Julian responded as he quickly looked at Danny. Danny was happy Julian definitely knew who he was… But he still hadn’t been called by his own name. He longed to hear his actual name roll off Jules’ tongue. 

Danny nodded. “Of course I can help you, babe,” Danny informed as he stood up with an encouraging smile on his face. Julian raised both of his eyebrows. 

They got Julian to sit up, and swing his legs over the side of the bed within a few minutes, and no problems. The problems began once they had Julian on his feet. At first, he had the assistance of Danny and Patty to help him up, but Patty let Danny take over. 

Julian had an arm draped over Danny’s shoulder and Danny had his arm wrapped around Julian’s back and held his hip to keep him steady. The first step was slow but good… then came the second. He blinked a few times and then let out a huff. Then he stopped. “Seeing… Stars.” The doctor quickly slid a chair up behind Julian so he could sit. Danny sighed and squatted in front of him. 

“Are you okay, babe,” Danny asked as he put his hands on Julian’s knees. 

Julian sucked in a breath, and slightly nodded. “Yes. Lets… go.” 

Danny nodded and with the help of Patty again, they had him up. He took a few more steps no problem… But at one point, he stopped and refused to move his feet. “Babe?” 

Julian just looked at the ground before he slowly closed his eyes and sucked in a long breath. “Sick,” he muttered under his breath as he stood there. The nurse quickly helped Danny lower him into the chair and the doctor flew forward to hand Julian a waste basket. Like clockwork… Julian was throwing up into the basket. 

Danny sighed and tried not to feel discouraged. It seemed like they were back to square one. At least he had a determined Julian for all of ten minutes. 

That night, Tom made Danny go home. Danny surprisingly agreed almost instantly. He felt whipped and he was beginning to get real tired of sleeping in the chair in Julian’s room. He thought about how he should’ve just accepted the offer of them bringing a cot into the room, but he didn’t want anything to bother Julian, so he never told the nurse yes. 

When he pulled Jules’ car into the garage he sat there for a second. He knew it was going to be hard, but it hadn’t registered that he’d actually be there alone… He turned to ask Julian to pressed the button to open the garage… But he wasn’t there, and that completely crushed him. 

After Danny built up the courage to go inside, he kicked his shoes off at the door and walked over to the sink and filled a glass up with water. As he stood there and looked into the living room he shook his head. He just wanted to lie on the couch and cuddle with Julian, be held in his embrace… Feel their lips be pushed together. 

He quickly downed his entire glass and put it down next to the sink. As he made his way up the stairs, he realized that he’d probably have to move everything from their bedroom into the guest room on the first floor… Because with how Julian was that day; there was no way he’d be able to make it up the stairs. 

He shook his head as he collapsed on the bed, where he rolled over and hugged Julian’s pillow close to his body. He missed Julian’s smell… He missed the Julian that wasn’t surrounded by the smell of disinfectant. 

This is when his first of many tears came. “Jules… Please come back. I miss the real you. I miss the you who was a dumbass, but was a completely caring asshole. I wanna sleep in the same bed as you tonight. I need you here… I need… I need you to hold me and tell me it’s all going to be okay. Please Jules,” Danny mumbled into the pillow as he began to sob. 

“I just want you to sleep here next to me tonight.. I want… to hear your cheerful voice,” Danny cried. “I’d do anything to have it be me in that bad and not you. Lord please help me.” 

He involuntarily fell asleep. Maybe the next few days would be an upwards slant rather than a downwards slant-- he could only hope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed.  
> Thanks all! And remember... Feed back is GREATLY appreciated! :)


	4. 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Julian sighed as he rested with his head back and stared at the ceiling. He really wanted to cry… But… he knew he couldn’t. Everything was already in a haze and if he cried it’d all get worse… And… And… he was so sick of being stuck in his own brain. Julian really wished he knew the time… Cuz maybe then he could know when to expect Danny. 
> 
> The door to the room opened and he raised his head from his pillow, slowly, to see who was coming into the room-- Only the doctor… No Danny. “Hi Julian,” Dr. Fisher greeted with a small smile on his face. 
> 
> “Hi,” was all Julian let out. He was surprised that he was able to say something without his head hurting even more.

Wednesday, for Julian, was quite a long day. He spent about 80% of the day just lying in his bed either sleeping or staring at the ceiling in the darkness that still surrounded him as his head pounded and the ringing wouldn’t leave his ears. Danny was also gone most of the day, which he didn’t necessarily like, but he knew he had to deal with it, because Danny had to go to practice and spend some time away from him and still have a life that wasn’t just sitting in the hospital room. 

One word to sum up Jules’ day would have to be “frustration”. Despite some good things happening that day he was just plain frustrated that he had yet to put together many full sentences without help, and with the fact that he got nauseous each time he walked. 

He was also frustrated because all he could do while Danny was around was sit there and enjoy his company. While he was extremely thankful for the presence of Danny, he was very frustrated with the fact that he couldn’t wrap his arms around Danny and tell him everything could be okay, without feeling like he was going to throw up and die. He also didn’t like the fact that he was the one who had caused all of this stress on Danny. That broke him. 

Another thing that hung over Jules’ head was the fact that he was in the hospital-- surprisingly awake for five hours straight-- without Danny there at all. He missed having Danny sitting next to him and holding his hand, even if they didn’t talk much. He missed Danny sitting next to him with the loving look in his eyes and his hushed ‘I love you’s’. 

Julian sighed as he rested with his head back and stared at the ceiling. He really wanted to cry… But… he knew he couldn’t. Everything was already in a haze and if he cried it’d all get worse… And… And… he was so sick of being stuck in his own brain. Julian really wished he knew the time… Cuz maybe then he could know when to expect Danny. 

The door to the room opened and he raised his head from his pillow, slowly, to see who was coming into the room-- Only the doctor… No Danny. “Hi Julian,” Dr. Fisher greeted with a small smile on his face. 

“Hi,” was all Julian let out. He was surprised that he was able to say something without his head hurting even more. 

“I know you want Danny to be here for this stuff… But… I thought that we could do a few things… And if you pass the tests… You can go home tomorrow. How does that sound, Julian?” The doctor took a seat on the opposite side of the bed that Danny normally sat on. 

Julian’s eyes lit up at the word ‘home’. “Yes. Please. I miss… miss home.” 

“Can you count to ten for me?” The doctor looked at him contently. 

Julian swallowed the spit pooling in his mouth and briefly nodded at the doctor. “One… t-two… thr-ee… Four,” Julian brought a hand up to cover his eyes and sighed-- he knew his numbers, why the fuck couldn’t he do this?! 

“It’s alright, Julian… Take all the time you need.” 

Julian removed his hands from his face and sucked in a long breath. “Five… Sev… er… Six… Seven…” He took another breath and rested his head back against the pillow… His head was beginning to pound a bit harder. “Eight…. Ni-nine… Te-en.” 

“That’s great Julian! You’re making some great progress,” The doctor applauded with a smile on his face. “Do you think you can keep counting?” 

After a second Julian sighed… He already took just about all of ten minutes to count to fucking ten… It's definitely take another 10 to count to twenty… He nodded anyway, because he was determined-- determined to get better for not himself… but for Danny. “E-Eleven.” He just sighed and briefly shook his head. “I can’t,” he complained. 

“That’s okay… You went above expectations… How about we expose you to a bit of light? It’ll only be a little brighter than the light that has been in here the past day,” the doctor encouraged. 

“I-I… Sure,” He wanted the doctor to know he was trying… He also wanted the doctor to let him go home… Cuz fuck, he really missed his bed. 

The doctor nodded and stood up. “Okay, now,” he walked over toward a lamp that was in the room, “I’m going to turn the lights up little by little, is that okay?” 

“Yes, Doc.” The doctor slowly turned up the brightness on a lamp that had been in the corner of the room for Julian’s entire stay. At first, Julian cringed, but slowly became attuned to it. He… He actually liked it… He liked the fact that it kind of seemed like there was a light at the end of the dark tunnel he’s been sitting in the past few days. 

“You’re going an excellent job, Julian,” the doctor congratulated as he sat back down in the chair next to the bed. “Now that we’ve got some light… How about you read a few words for me off of a piece of paper?” 

“Yeah,” Julian replied as enthusiastically as he could. Even when he wasn’t concussed, he hated reading… but that wouldn’t change the doctors mind. 

The doctor pulled out a piece of paper with letters that had to be bigger than size 50 font. “Can you read this out loud for me, Julian?” 

Julian closed his eyes for a second, but then opened them again to look at the piece of paper with the big black lettering. After a few seconds, his eyes finally focused. “Uh… My name… is… Julian.” 

“Very good, Julian! How are you feeling?” The doctor looked at Julian with both of his eyebrows raised. This was the first time he was able to see the doctors grayish eyes.

“My head… Is… Pounding… But… Good…” Julian’s eyes were beginning to become slightly wet. 

“How about we do one more sentence… And then we can turn off all these lights and you can relax?” The doctors voice was soft, which Julian really appreciated. 

“That’s fine…” He sighed as he looked at the next piece of paper the doctor held up. “I… I… pl...play… f… football.” 

“Excellent Julian! When Danny gets back I’ll let him know that he can plan to bring you home tomorrow.” 

Okay, now Julian was excited. He was finally going to go home. It was about damn time. He nodded in response. But Danny? That’s right he’s not there… Why? Julian felt like he knew… but he wasn’t completely sure. “Where is Danny? Can he come here? I miss him.” 

The doctor raised his eyebrow, and had a little smirk on his face. “I can certainly call him, Julian. The last time I had seen him I was advising him on how to welcome you home and the stuff he would need,” the doctor informed. 

“Good. I miss him.” Julian sighed, he wanted to stay awake, but he slowly began to drift off anyway. 

Meanwhile, Danny was just getting done with practice and about to hop in the shower when he decided to check his phone— he saw a missed call from the doctor, and panic began to rise in his chest. “Fuck,” he mumbled as he quickly pressed the ‘call back’ button. He rubbed the sweat off his face with a towel and sat there, staring intensely at the ground. 

“This is Doctor Fisher speaking,” Dr. Fisher’s calm voice came through the phone. 

“Uh… Hi Doc… This is Danny Amendola… I saw that you called me… Is everything alright with Jules,” Danny asked as he leaned back in his locker. His heart was racing.

“Yes, everything is completely fine, Danny. I just thought I’d let you know that I did some tests with him, and he can go home tomorrow. And, in addition to that, he was actually asking where you were.” 

Danny’s eyes lit up at hearing that. “He was? Oh! Uh… I gotta wrap stuff up at practice… And then I’ll stop by… Thank you so much, Doc.” 

“It’s no problem, Danny. It’s my pleasure to help people, that’s why I chose to do what I do.” 

After Danny hung up with the doctor, he quickly stuffed his phone into his duffle bag before practically running to the showers, where he took what had to be the fastest shower of his entire life, but he couldn’t bring himself to care— because Jules was asking for him! 

He quickly made his way back to his locker, threw his hoodie, underwear and shorts on, then slid into his tennis shoes before running out of the building. Danny then hopped in his car and may or may not have sped all the way to the hospital-- he couldn’t help the fact that he was excited his Jules was asking for him. 

When Danny arrived, Julian was still asleep, so Danny-- not wanting to take Jules up-- plopped down in the chair, he was surprised didn’t have his ass imprints yet, and began to scroll through news on his phone. 

When Julian woke up again, he looked over to Danny sitting in his normal spot looking down at his phone. The first thing Julian noticed about Danny was that his hair was wet, which probably meant he probably just took a shower. The next thing he noticed, were the dark bags under Danny’s beautiful brown eyes. He felt bad. He knew that it was because of him.

A few tears fell from his eyes, and then he sniffled. Danny quickly looked up at him and his brown eyes went wide. “Jules?” His voice was soft and velvety. “Are you okay? Are you in pain, babe?” He quickly wiped the tears on Julian’s cheeks away with his thumbs. 

“Where have you been? I’ve missed you, Danny,” Julian asked as he looked up at Danny with wide watery eyes. 

Danny froze as he looked down at Julian. Then his own tears began to roll down his face. Julian called him Danny… He… He called him by his first name… Danny was frozen in place.

“What’s wrong,” Julian quickly asked as he stared up at his crying boyfriend. “Bubs?” 

“Y-You,” Danny cut himself off with a small sob as he looked down at Julian. How was he speaking full sentences? Where had this come from? Was Jules actually back? 

Danny quickly moved in to give Jules a partial hug, where he stuffed his face into the crook of Julian’s neck. “You’re fine… I’m fine… We’re fine,” Danny mumbled into the crook of his neck. It took Julian a second, but he brought his arms up and wrapped them around Danny, pulling Danny into him as they both began to sob into each other. Julian slowly moved his hand up and tangled it in Danny’s dark, wet hair. 

“I-I love you, Danny.” 

“I love you, too, Jules… I can’t wait to get you home tomorrow,” Danny responded. He pulled away from Julian and wiped away the rest of the tears that were running down Julian’s cheeks. 

‘This is the upward slant’ Danny thought. 

The next day, at night of course, Danny was able to take Julian home. Danny felt quite accomplished because he was able to get Julian home with only throwing up into a bucket twice. Julian however, felt more discouraged than ever because he threw up twice. 

When they pulled into the driveway, Danny could feel the excitement that was radiating off of Julian. He knew how bad the younger man wanted to get home, and he felt happy that he could finally get what he wanted. 

“Look at this, Jules, we’re home,” Danny mumbled softly as he pulled into the garage and shifted the car into park. He turned to Julian and motioned for the bucket, which was easily given to him. He then got out of the car, threw the bucket in the trashcan, and quickly ran around the car so he could open the door for Julian. 

“Thank god,” Julian grumbled as he let out a sigh. “I’ve missed it.” 

Danny nodded as he ducked his head in. “I know you have. Let me unlock the door and then we can get you inside.” Danny quickly turned around and unlocked the door before he turned back to Julian, who had already gotten his seatbelt unbuckled. “Do you need help getting up?” 

“I’m fine… Danny.” 

Danny sighed and nodded as he watched Julian slowly lift himself out of the car and then walk up the single step into the house. He began to sway on his feet as he made his way into the kitchen, so Danny closed the door and quickly wrapped one arm around Julian’s back. “I’ve got ya, Babe.” 

“Thank you,” Julian muttered as he tried to walk toward the steps, but Danny quickly stopped him. “I’m trying to head to our room, Danny… I know I’m still on bedrest. You don’t need to worry.” 

“Jules, Tom and I moved all of our stuff into the guest room down here so you wouldn’t have to go up the steps,” Danny informed as he gripped Julian’s hip a bit tighter.

“But the guest bed sucks,” Julian complained as he let himself be pulled toward the room anyway. 

“Tom and I even brought down our mattress, just because I knew you’d complain about it,” Danny informed as they made it into the barely lit room. He helped Julian sit down on the bed and then sat down next to him. 

“How are you feeling,” Danny asked as he placed his hand on Julian’s thigh. He couldn’t help but notice it wasn’t as hard as it was before. 

“I threw up… But… I’m okay now,” Julian mumbled as he leaned over into Danny, embracing the warmth that was next to him. 

“How’s your neck feel? I didn’t realize how bad it really was until I saw it in the lights,” Danny commented as he tightened his grip on Jules’ thigh. 

“Okay… I guess… Some of the ringing is gone… My head hurts, though,” Julian mumbled and then let out a yawn. 

“How are you so tired, Jules? You’ve slept so much this past week,” Danny replied and let out a chuckle. 

If it wouldn’t have given him a headache, Julian would’ve rolled his eyes. “I just… I just am. I think we should go to bed. I’ve missed sleeping next to you,” Julian whispered as he closed his eyes and carefully rested his head on Danny’s shoulder. 

“I can definitely say the same. Let’s get these shorts, your shirt and shoes off… And then we can go to bed… But just a reminder… I do have practice tomorrow.” 

“I miss football,” Julian muttered after a second. 

“I know you do, Jules, I know you do.”

Danny missed having him at practices, too. He just missed being able to see Jules’ face light up at the idea of doing what he loved everyday. They may have been home, but Danny was convinced they still had a few challenges that were going to be thrown their way… And it was their job to catch them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Think challenges will still be thrown their way? 
> 
> Thanks for reading! :)


	5. 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a hard earned win against the Steelers, Tom drove himself and Danny back to the ‘Edelmendola’ household. It was nearly midnight by the time they got back, and Danny was dead on his feet. Gisele met both of them at the door with a smile on her face. 
> 
> “Hi Tom,” she greeted and wrapped her arms around Tom, and quickly kissed him. Tom happily returned the kiss. “Great win.” 
> 
> Danny stood there for a second, watching the two. He couldn’t help but wish that were him and Julian. He missed kissing the hell of out Julian, and wrapping his arms around him… and just messing around. 
> 
> Next thing Danny knew was Gisele had her arms wrapped around him. “Hi Danny,” her accent was quite thick as she talked into his shoulder. 
> 
> He lightly hugged her back. “Hi Gisele… Thank you for watching him. It means a lot,” Danny mumbled in response as they pulled away from each other. He really wished it was Julian with his arms around him. 
> 
> “It’s no problem… You know how much the kids love being watched by their grandparents instead of me or Tom,” she replied with a smile as she moved back over to Tom where she wrapped her arm around his back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay! I was trying soooo hard to not post twice in one day... But... just... THIS CHAPTER. I'm sorry... But... UGH! I hope you enjoy it.

Don’t get Danny wrong, he was very happy to have Julian back at home… and he was also happy to have Julian sleeping next to him each night, as well… but having Julian home on top of a busy schedule with practices, workouts, and games was brutal… and on top of that… there were two completely different Julian’s that he could wake up to: the almost normal Julian and the no-progress Julian. 

Danny never knew which Julian he’d get. That's one thing that Danny’ learned within the first week of having Julian home. And, because he never knew which Julian would wake up that day, he kind of dreaded waking up at times. 

After a week and a half of being home, Danny had to fly out to Pittsburgh with the team. Gisele agreed to watch over Julian for the weekend, so Danny felt at ease… But he knew she wouldn’t always be able to help-- so he’d have to find a more permanent caretaker. He was beginning to get stressed with finding people though. He only wanted Julian in the best hands. 

Danny let out a long sigh as he leaned back in his seat on the plane. 

“You okay, Dola,” Tom asked across the isle as he looked at Danny with his eyebrows raised. “You keep letting out long sighs.” 

“I need to find someone to watch him when we’re on road trips,” Danny muttered as he looked over at Tom and gave him a tried look. A good night of sleep was hard to come by now-a-days. 

“I’m sure we can find someone, Dola. Besides, Gisele loves Jules, I’m sure she’ll be happy to watch him as much as possible,” Tom informed as he stood up from his spot and moved over into the empty seat next to Danny, where Julian normally sat. 

“Today was a bad day,” Danny replied sadly. He looked down at his hands and shook his head. 

Julian almost missed the fact that he was at home in his own bed this morning, he nearly threw up, and he could barely get a few words out. At first, Danny thought it was because his head was clouded by sleep… But then Danny got up, made breakfast (only stuff the Doc recommended), and took a shower… And by the time he was back in the bedroom, Julian lying back against the pillows he had propped up with a dazed look in his blue eyes. The most Danny could get out of him was one or two worded answers. 

“He was just walking last night… He even had expressions on his face again too... And now he could barely move without looking sick. And… And he’s back to calling me Dola… It’s just… It’s really hard to not feel discouraged. I miss him, Tom…” 

Tom moved and put a hand on Danny’s shoulder. “I know, Danny, we all do… I’m sure he’ll get better soon.” 

Danny couldn’t help but get a sick feeling in his stomach that it anything, Julian was going to get better later rather than sooner, and he didn’t know if he could handle that. 

***

After a hard earned win against the Steelers, Tom drove himself and Danny back to the ‘Edelmendola’ household. It was nearly midnight by the time they got back, and Danny was dead on his feet. Gisele met both of them at the door with a smile on her face. 

“Hi Tom,” she greeted and wrapped her arms around Tom, and quickly kissed him. Tom happily returned the kiss. “Great win.” 

Danny stood there for a second, watching the two. He couldn’t help but wish that were him and Julian. He missed kissing the hell of out Julian, and wrapping his arms around him… and just messing around. 

Next thing Danny knew was Gisele had her arms wrapped around him. “Hi Danny,” her accent was quite thick as she talked into his shoulder. 

He lightly hugged her back. “Hi Gisele… Thank you for watching him. It means a lot,” Danny mumbled in response as they pulled away from each other. He really wished it was Julian with his arms around him. 

“It’s no problem… You know how much the kids love being watched by their grandparents instead of me or Tom,” she replied with a smile as she moved back over to Tom where she wrapped her arm around his back. 

Danny shot her a fake smile as he chuckled a bit. “How was he today? Was it a good day?” He was now looking at Gisele contently, hoping to hear a good answer. 

Gisele nodded briefly. “Yeah, I’d say it was. He knew you were gone for football. And he was talking a bit with me today. He was also able to get to the bathroom by himself without any problems… He even asked if I could help him with shaving because his hand was too shaky for it.” 

Danny sighed, but nodded anyway. He missed a good day. He fucking missed a good day. Damnit. He felt terrible. He never wanted to miss a good day. He missed having those glimpses of the old Jules-- his Jules. Despite being upset he still put on his happy face. “That’s good. I’m glad he’s had a good day. Is he asleep now?” 

“Yeah, he is. He claimed he wanted to stay up and wait for you to come home, but he’s been asleep since about 10,” Gisele informed as she nodded. 

“Okay.” Danny yawned and rubbed at his eyes. He was really gonna fall asleep standing up if he didn’t go to bed soon. 

Tom and Gisele took that as their cue to leave. “Okay, Danny. I'll see you at team meetings tomorrow. Remember Josh moved them back to 10, because of the delayed flight.” 

Danny nodded sleepily as the couple walked past him. Tom patted his shoulder and Gisele squeezed his bicep as a way to reassure him everything would be alright. Once the two were out the door, Danny locked up behind them and then trudged to the guest room, where he let his duffle bag fall to the floor. He could see Julian fast asleep in the bed once he was close enough to touch him. 

He sighed. At least Julian looked like he was normal while he was sleeping. Danny slowly stripped from his clothes before he practically collapsed in bed and turned so his back was to Julian. After a few seconds he could hear Julian shuffle, and then there were warm fingers grasping his hip. Chills shot through his body as he moved so he was on his back, looking at Julian. 

Julian had his head resting on his pillow and his eyes were partially open. “Did you win, Bubs?” He moved his hand so it was resting on Danny’s bare stomach. 

Danny sucked in a shaky breath. “I-I… Yeah… Jules. We won. We won for you.” Danny was carefully to keep his voice low. 

Julian ran his fingers back and forth on Danny’s stomach… And Danny felt it go straight to his dick. Fuck-- not now. “Good, I missed you. I miss seeing you in those tight pants,” Julian whispered, probably because he knew speaking louder would affect his head. 

Danny’s breath hitched as he swiped Julian’s hand off of him. He propped himself up on an elbow and leaned over to place a kiss on Julian’s forehead. “I miss you, too, Jules,” Danny mumbled sadly. “Now go to sleep. I’ll be here tomorrow when you get up.” 

Julian hummed and let his eyes close before he fell asleep, not even catching what Danny had just said. “I miss you, babe, so much.” Danny sighed, ran a hand through Julian’s hair and then turned so his back was to Julian again. He was beginning to question how much longer he could do it. 

The next three days: Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were all bad days… And Thursday was no exception. Danny was really beginning to feel pessimistic about Julian ever fully recovering. They were already nearly three weeks into October and Julian hadn’t made much progress in those three weeks he had been home. 

After practice, Danny took a nice, long, hot shower. He didn’t know how long he stood under the hot stream of water, but he was pretty sure his skin was getting ready to shrivel up from the burning substance. When the water ran cold, he let out a long huff and leaned forward to turn the water off, but something just kept him standing there. He felt disgusted with himself, maybe he deserved a cold shower. He was beginning to resent Julian… He… He never wanted to feel that way… Julian couldn’t help it… and Danny knew it. A few tears made their ways down his cheeks. He really didn’t want to go home. But… Julian was there alone and shouldn’t be left alone for more than 4 hours at a time. 

After a minute, he shivered from the cold air that was beginning to hit his wet skin. He shook his head and leaned forward to grab his towel so he could wrap it around his waist. Danny brought his hands up and wiped his tears away with the heels of them. He sucked in a sniffle and slowly shuffled into the locker room, where he quickly pulled on his briefs and then shoved aside his cleats before plopping down and leaning all the way back. 

He grabbed his phone from his duffle bag and sighed. His lock screen was a picture of him and Julian from when they dressed like Boston PD. It was years old, but the two of them had so much fun filming that video-- it was one of his favorite memories. He sighed as he unlocked his phone and went to his photos, where he found a random picture he had taken of the beach that past summer and made that his new lock screen. He couldn’t stand to see the old Julian, his Julian… It just kept him wishing for something he thought he may never get back. Danny sniffled again as he opened the Twitter app and began to scroll. 

“Dola? What are you still doing here, Babe,” Tom’s voice asked before the older man came into view. 

Danny looked at him with watery eyes. “Just got done with my shower,” he mumbled numbly as he quickly turned his attention back to Twitter. 

Tom sighed as he sat down in the folding chair in front of Danny. “Shouldn’t you be home? You’ve been here at least five hours now… Practice ended an hour ago… Shouldn’t you check on Jules?” 

Danny let out a huff and looked up, locking eyes with Tom. Tom’s blue eyes were soft, caring… Understanding… Danny’s eyes, however, were full of fire, hate, and anger. He slightly shook his head, which caused Tom to sigh. 

“Come on Danny, I’ll go with you,” Tom coaxed as he tilted his head to the side, and continued to look at Danny. 

“No.” Danny’s voice came out as more of a growl than anything, he didn’t lift his death glare. 

“Come on, Babe, Jules needs you.” Tom’s voice was soft. 

“I said ‘No’. I’m not going back,” Danny shot back as he continued his death glare with his dark eyes. “I will not go back.” 

Tom reached out to put a comforting hand on Danny’s knee, but Danny quickly moved away. “Don’t fucking touch me,” he yelled as he moved out of his locker and looked at Tom angrily. 

“Come on, Dola,” Tom responded calmly as he stood in front of Danny. “Where are you going to go? You live together.” 

“I don’t know,” Danny quickly shot back, “I’ll stay at a fucking hotel for all I care! I’m not fucking going back.” 

“You are going back, Danny. Julian needs you,” Tom told him, barely raising his voice. 

“No, Tom,” Danny grumbled as he stepped forward and shoved at Tom’s chest, “He doesn’t. At this point he belongs in the fucking hospital! He hasn’t said a full fucking sentence since Sunday night!” 

“He fucking needs you Danny,” Tom finally yelled back as he put both his hands on Danny’s shoulder. “He needs you or he’s not going to get better!”

Danny had no clue when he started crying. “I can’t go back! I can’t take care of him! It’s hard enough on me! I never get to do anything I want to do! I can’t even take care of myself, anymore! It’s always him I worry about first! I always have to find someone to watch him when I’m gone for games, too! And it’s getting hard because I don’t want it to be a burden on other people! I just can’t! I’m not cut out for this,” Danny sobbed and fell into where we was just sitting in his locker. He rubbed his eyes as he began to cry more. “I’m starting to hate him, Tom!” 

Tom sighed loudly. “Listen Danny.” Tom’s soft voice came again as he squatted in front of Danny and placed his hand on Danny’s knees. “You and I both know that that isn’t true. You love him. And I get that you’re stressed… And I get that you miss him… But you being there is going to be what makes him better.” 

Danny looked up and met Tom’s eyes. “No. I-I just can’t. I can’t help him anymore. I miss Julian. There’s… He wouldn’t even notice if I were gone… He could have someone else taking care of him, it doesn’t matter.” Danny continued to cry as he shook his head. 

“Danny… Please…” 

“No! I’m not fucking going back! There is no fucking way.” He shoved Tom out of the way and began to viciously throw his clothes on. He grabbed his duffle bag and shoved past Tom. Tom grabbed Danny’s arm. 

“Danny! God damn it! Maybe if you actually asked for help, we could help you! We are always willing to fucking help! You should know that!” 

“I’m not dealing with this, right now! I’ll be back tomorrow,” Danny grumbled before he pulled his arm away from Tom and stormed out of the locker room. 

Tom sighed, he knew he should’ve helped Danny earlier. Now he was going to have to head to the ‘Edelmendola’ household and help Julian, because Danny cracked under the pressure. 

He shook his head as he grabbed all of his stuff, then made his way out of the arena, and to his car. He slid in and sat there for a second. After a minute or two he pulled his phone out and clicked on Gisele’s contact. 

“Hello,” her sweet accent came through after a second. 

Tom instantly felt calm at hearing her voice. “Hi Baby… Uh… I don’t think I’ll be home tonight… Danny… He… He er… He lashed out about Julian. He refuses to go home… So I’m going to watch Julian tonight,” he spoke sadly into the phone. 

“Is Danny okay,” She instantly asked after she let out a loud gasp. 

“I-I… I don’t know. I hope so… He said he’d be back at practice tomorrow… Listen… I’m going to go… I’m sure Julian hasn’t had lunch,” Tom mumbled and let out a sigh. “Te Amo.” 

“Te Amo, Tommy. Let me know if you need help,” Gisele’s calm voice responded. 

“I will. Thank you.” 

Twenty minutes later, Tom was pulling into the ‘Edelmendola’ driveway. He quickly shifted the car into park and ran to the door, where he unlocked the door and made his way into the house.He slowly shuffled his way to the guest room where he found Julian lying and staring at the ceiling. 

“Dola?” Julian didn’t move an inch. 

“No, Jules, it’s Tom.” 

“Oh.” 

“Are you hungry, Julian?” Julian’s eyebrows raised a bit at the sound of his own name.

“Yeah.” 

Tom was beginning to see what Danny was talking about… He hadn’t seen this side of Julian since he saw him in the hospital the first time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M SO SORRY. I CRIED LIKE TWICE WHILE WRITING. 
> 
> I-M S-O-R-R-Y. 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed it though. Please feel free to leave your heartbreak in the comments.


	6. 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Danny got to the stadium, he was surprisingly the first one. He shifted his car into park, killed the engine and slid out of the car. He checked his phone as he began walking toward the back doors. 
> 
> Tom 7:06  
> Did you get anyone to watch Jules this weekend? 
> 
> Danny rolled his eyes before texting back a simple ‘no’ as he entered the building. He knew today was going to be a fairly short practice, because the team was headed for Houston to play the Texans the next day. 
> 
> He quickly got his practice clothes on and then sat in the folding chair in front of his locker so he could look through the playbook. 
> 
> Tom was the next one in the locker room. ‘Shocker’ Danny thought as he looked back down at the playbook.

On Friday morning, Tom woke up at 4 am in one of the first floor ‘Edelmendola’ guest rooms to hear the sound of someone throwing up in the room next to him. ‘Bad Day’ he thought as he rolled out of bed and pulled on a shirt. 

He quickly shuffled into the room that had been made Julian and Danny’s and sighed when he saw the sight in front of him. Julian had the white sheets pooled around his waist with a wastebasket sitting between his legs as he retched into it. 

“Jules? Are you okay,” Tom asked as he walked in and sat on the edge of the bed. He left the door opened just a bit so a little light could find its way into the bedroom. 

Once he stopped retching into the bucket he looked at Tom with tears running down his cheeks and a red face. “Head… Ringing…” He hiccuped. “Hurts.” 

Tom sighed and gave Julian a sad look. “Do you need to throw up anymore? Or can I take this and throw this away?” 

Julian slightly tilted his head before mumbling, “Take.” He still had tears rolling down his cheeks, but slowly laid back into his fluffy pillows, so he could try to calm himself down, and hopefully make the ringing go away. 

After Tom finished disposing of the contents in Julian’s bucket, he slowly made his way back into the room to put it down next to the bed, should Julian need it. When he opened the door, he thought Julian was fast asleep, but as he put the bucket down, Julian slightly turned his head with a questioning look in his eyes. “Dola?” 

“No, Jules,” Tom sighed, “it’s Tom.” 

“Oh. I… Miss Dola…” 

Tom sighed as he sat on the edge of the bed again. “I know you do, Jules.” He ran a hand though Julian’s hair that was beginning to get long. “He’ll… He’ll be back soon. I promise.” Now that Tom had spent over 12 hours with Julian, he was beginning to see why Danny cracked… Especially if this was how Julian was for almost a week. 

“Good… Sleepy…” Julian sniffled a bit and then let out a long yawn. His eyes fell closed. 

“Go to sleep Jules… I’ll be here when you wake up.” 

“Kay, Dola.” 

Tom sighed and shook his head. There really hadn’t been much progress since Julian arrived home from the hospital. He knew that if he were by Danny side, though, Danny would bounce back and be able to tough it all out. 

 

At 6:30, Danny woke up from a night in which he spent more time tossing and turning than sleeping. He slammed his hand down on the alarm clock to turn it off and let out a long groan. “Too fucking early for this shit,” he complained to himself as he stared up at the white ceiling. 

As he stared up, he couldn’t help but think about how Tom, without a doubt, was going to tear into him. He really didn’t know what got into him yesterday. He never meant to blow up like he did… But, he knew that those were the consequences each time he bottled up his feelings like he was with dealing with Julian. ‘I deserve to be yelled at’ he thought as he rolled his eyes at himself. 

He sighed as he rolled out of bed. He had to be on the road within half an hour, otherwise he’d be late… And he definitely didn’t want to deal with the wrath of both Tom and Coach. 

*** 

When Danny got to the stadium, he was surprisingly the first one. He shifted his car into park, killed the engine and slid out of the car. He checked his phone as he began walking toward the back doors. 

Tom 7:06  
Did you get anyone to watch Jules this weekend? 

Danny rolled his eyes before texting back a simple ‘no’ as he entered the building. He knew today was going to be a fairly short practice, because the team was headed for Houston to play the Texans the next day. 

He quickly got his practice clothes on and then sat in the folding chair in front of his locker so he could look through the playbook. 

Tom was the next one in the locker room. ‘Shocker’ Danny thought as he looked back down at the playbook. 

“Danny,” Tom’s voice came from Tom’s locker. “I think we should talk. Come with me to the gym?” 

Danny slammed the playbook shut, but followed Tom to the gym anyway. “He uh… He’s having another bad day,” Tom began with as he looked down at Danny with his arms crossed. 

“I-I… That’s not out of the ordinary,” Danny began… “Listen, I’m sorry for lashing out yesterday… I just… I know I should start asking for help… I’m… It’s been getting harder and harder. For the few steps we take forward it’s like we take 20 back… I just… I can’t do this by myself anymore, Tom.” 

“He was asking for you, Danny,” Tom informed as his blue eyes looked down and met Danny’s watery brown ones. “He… He threw up this morning… And then he was about to go back to sleep, but he asked for you… I told him you’d come back soon and then he called me Dola. He loves you, Danny.” 

“I-I…” Danny sucked in a breath, but then shook his head as he looked at his feet. “I love him, too…” 

Tom moved forward and placed his hand on Danny’s shoulder, which made Danny look up at him. “He’d do the exact same for you, if it were you in that bed…” Danny nodded. “So, do me a favor, let me know when you need help and I’ll help you out.” 

“You’re right Tom… I’m sorry. Th-Thank you for being there when I wasn’t.” 

“No problem at all, babe,” Tom replied before he pulled Danny into his arms. Danny was actually happy to hug back, he missed being held in someone’s arms. 

*** 

When Danny and Tom returned home the next night around 11, he sent Tom and Gisele off so he could crawl into bed and sleep (the last two nights were hell, because he felt beyond stupid). According to Gisele, it was an ‘okay day’, which probably meant he still had a somewhat bad day. 

As he sunk into the bed, he felt Julian shuffle next to him before he let out a sigh. “Hi, Dola.” Julian reached over and placed a hand on Danny’s bicep. He was still only Dola, and it hurt.

“Hi Julian… How are you today,” Danny asked after a second, but remained lying on his back. 

“Missed you lots, Dola.” Julian’s voice sounded stronger than what it normally did. Danny took that as a small win. 

Danny sat there for a second. He felt as if Julian’s hand was burning his skin… He was really beginning to feel overwhelmed… He just felt… Something felt off… He wasn’t sleeping next to his Julian… It was like he was sleeping next to some stranger. 

“Dola?” Julian’s question actually seemed to have an expression. 

“Yes, Julian,” Danny asked flatly as he closed his eyes, but stayed still. 

“Please don’t leave me.” Julian sounded like a scared little kid. It normally would’ve broken DAnny… But for some reason it didn’t because this wasn’t his Julian. “I-I don’t mean it.” Julian’s grip on Danny got a bit tighter and Danny let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. 

The hot tears that had been sitting at the back of his eyes may their ways to the surface, and before he knew it, he was crying. He sniffled. He didn’t want to be in this bed right now. 

“Go to sleep, Julian,” Danny managed to get out. 

Julian’s hot hand slowly was lifted from his skin, and then there was some shuffling before complete silence hit the room. Danny stared up at the ceiling until he heard small snores coming from Julian’s mouth… At least those sounded like they always did. 

Danny kicked the sheets off his body and grabbed his pillow, then shuffled out of the bedroom to sleep on the guest bed next door. Danny has had his fair share of one nighters… But that didn’t mean he likes sleeping next to someone who was a complete stranger. 

The next morning, Danny woke up to the sun shining into the guest room. He groaned. “Fuck… Damn shades.” He rolled out of bed and made his way out of the room and into the kitchen. He sat down at the table and was about to lean forward and grab an apple from a bowl on the table when he heard a voice. 

“Fuck!” It was Julian’s voice… And it was much louder than he’s heard Julian speak since the night he got hurt… 

He quickly jumped up and practically ran into the room Julian was in. “Julian!? Are you okay,” he asked softly as he came sliding to a stop once he saw Julian lying back into the pillows with his hands over his eyes. 

“Yeah,” Julian groaned out as he peaked an eye out between his fingers. “I-I thought I could turn the lamp on… But… It was too bright… Sorry if I woke you up, Danny.” 

Danny couldn’t help but chuckle at that, his mood was beginning to pick up. “Only you Julian… Are you feeling okay,” Danny asked as he moved in further and sat down at the edge of the bed. 

“I mean… I have a headache… But… It’s better than it’s been in a long time,” Julian informed as he removed both of his hands from his eyes and looked at Danny. 

Danny looked at Julian with two eyebrows raised… Where had Jules come from? There was emotion in his voice… He was saying sentences… And he was talking louder than he had talked since the accident. 

“D-Do you want me to make some breakfast? I-I… We have today off.” Danny was dumbfounded… He had no clue how this Julian had gotten here. 

“Uh… What kind of a question is that,” Julian question as he slowly sat up and looked at Danny with… happy blue eyes… Danny was in shock…

“Okay… Do you want to come into the kitchen too?” 

Jules’ eyebrows rose. “Of course I do.” 

Danny sucked in a breath. Was his Julian really back? “Uh… Can you do me a favor?” Danny placed a hand on Julian’s sheet covered leg. 

“What’s that Danny?” Danny got goosebumps at hearing his name be spoken. 

“Can you please put on sunglasses? I don’t want you to start getting headaches again,” Danny replied as he looked at Julian with pleading eyes. 

Julian sighed, but agreed. 

Danny was quite pleased with the fact that Julian was able to keep the eggs he made down for breakfast. The two of them sat at the kitchen island, across from each other holding a small conversation about ‘breakfast being sooooo good’ according to Julian. Danny couldn’t help but smile at that. 

When they finished up their breakfast, Danny quickly loaded the dishwasher up as Julian sat there and watched him while sipping water. “Danny, where is my phone?” 

“It’s in an undisclosed location,” Danny simply said as he moved close Julian and leaned against the counter with his elbow. He had a silly little smirk playing on his lips. 

“Why can’t I have my phone, Danny?” Julian was beginning to whine. Any other time, Danny would get annoyed at Julian’s whining… But he couldn’t help but be happy… His Julian was beginning to come back. 

“I don’t want you to over do it… I’ll tell you what… We can snuggle on the couch and watch a tv show for a half an hour… That way you can adjust a bit… And If you’re having a good day tomorrow you can have a limited time with your phone,” Danny wagered. He felt like a damn parent, and he didn’t like it. But he wanted to embrace Julian’s warmth, so... 

Julian sighed before he nodded. “Can I at least pick the tv show? I haven't been able to watch tv since I got hurt.” Julian jutted out his bottom lip as he looked at Danny. 

Danny rolled his eyes. “Of course you can. What do you want to watch, Jules?” 

Julian thought for a second before a smile overtook his face. “Can we watch the Threat Level Midnight episode of The Office?” Julian’s eyebrows rose above his sunglasses with anticipation. 

Of course, the Episode that Julian’s practically memorized because he’s seen it dozens of times. 

“Sure we can Jules. Do you want to do that right now? Or do you want to go back to bed and relax a bit,” Danny asked as he tilted his head in question. 

“Well… There’s one thing I want to do before that.” 

“What’s that,” Danny asked as he raised an eyebrow. Confusion became apparent on his tanned face. 

Julian grabbed Danny’s hand and pulled him to him. Danny wasn’t quick to react and next thing he knew was his lips were pressed to Julian’s and Julian’s arms were around him. He melted into the kiss. 

They both pulled apart and Danny pulled Julian into his arms. “I’ve missed you so much, Julian.” 

Julian hummed in agreement. “Can we go watch The Office now? I miss Michael Scott.” 

Danny pulled out of the hug and raised an eyebrow. “I thought you missed me?” He played fake hurt. 

Julian shook his head. “I did… Now can we go cuddle before I get a bad headache? I can feel it coming.” 

Danny was practically snapped back to reality… He might not have this Julian much longer. He wanted to make the best of it. He wanted to hold Julian tight and tell him how much he loved him. “Yeah, Jules…. Lets go.” 

The two of them made their ways into the living room, where Julian plopped down on the couch and Danny closed all the shades. Danny quickly sat down and turned the TV on to netflix where he picked Julian’s favorite episode. 

Once it was up and running, Danny leaned back and let Julian slowly crawl on top of him, where he settled his head on Danny’s chest. “Can I take off my sunglasses now? The shades are shut.” Julian mumbled into Danny’s chest. 

“Uh… Yeah… I guess you can.” Julian quickly discarded of the shades and buried his face further into Danny’s chest. 

“I love you, Danny. And I love how warm and cuddly you are,” Julian mumbled before he lifted his head and looked Danny directly in the eyes. 

Danny got chills as he brought his arms up and wrapped them around Julian’s body. “I love you, too, Jules… So much.” He ducked his head and placed a kiss on Julian’s forehead. “I hope we have more days like these.” 

“I do too, Danny.” Danny smiled at hearing his name… He could get used to it. 

Julian slowly began to drift off on top of Dany, and Danny could only think about how he craved more days like this one. He never wanted to see a ‘bad day Julian’ ever again, but he wasn’t sure he was going to get his way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I hated this chapter... I really wasn't feeling it. 
> 
> Hope you liked it though?


	7. 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I-I… Yeah… Okay.” He leaned over to grab his phone and pulled up the youtube app. Once he found the video he sighed and looked up at Julian. “This… This is going to be hard to watch.” 
> 
> Julian gave him a half nod. Danny pressed play and tilted the screen over in Julian’s direction. He didn’t want to see it. He saw it happen in person… And he knew what the results of the hit would be. As Danny looked away, he could feel Julian flinch next to him, and after a second Julian grabbed ahold of the phone and locked it.

The next week and a half were fairly good for Danny and Julian. Julian had more good days than bad ones, but despite the fact that the good days outweighed the bad days, Danny still slept in the guest room because he feared he’d wake up to ‘bad day Julian’. 

On November 2nd, Danny woke up from one of the best nights of sleep he had since before Julian’s accident, to an arm draped over his waist with someone’s warm body effectively spooning him from behind. He smiled a bit and leaned back into the warm pair of arms as he kept his eyes shut, before slowly drifting back off-- not thinking anything of it. 

When Danny woke up again, a pair of lips were sucking at the back of his neck. “Hmm,” he let out slowly as he leaned back into the arms again. He felt completely content until he realized he was in bed with someone… He went to bed alone… His eyes snapped open, he was frozen in place, but he quickly directed his eyes down to see the hand that was resting on his stomach… He knew that hand… it was Julian’s. He relaxed a bit. 

“Jules?” Danny’s voice was small. He didn’t know how to react… How had Julian gotten in this bed? His body hadn’t received this type of affection in so long, he barely knew what to do. 

The lips were removed from the back of his neck and then Julian’s sweet, soft voice mumbled, “Yes, Danny?” 

“W-What are you doing in here,” Danny asked as his brown eyes looked straight forward, toward the closet. 

Julian lifted the arm he had draped over Danny’s waist, and then moved Danny so he was flat on his back. Julian then slowly moved so he was half on top of Danny, kissing Danny’s hard pecs. “J-Jules?” What on earth was happening? 

Danny’s breath hitched as Julian began to trail kisses over his sternum and to his collarbone where he briefly sucked before looking up at Danny with bright blue eyes. “Yeah, Bubs?” 

“W-W… Jules, what are you doing,” Danny asked as his voice hitched a bit. 

Julian tilted his head a bit as he looked Danny in the eyes. Danny couldn't help but let his eyes trail over Julian’s face, even with the slight scarring from when he fell. His beautiful blue eyes had a loving look in them… A look that Danny hadn’t truly seen since minutes before the accident… His turf burn was just about all gone… And the dark purple bruises that were once on his neck from the muscle tear were nothing but a distant memory. 

This. This was his Julian. This was the Julian he’s missed the past month and two weeks. 

“Happy Birthday, Danny,” Julian’s soft voice said as he brought a hand up and cupped Danny’s dark stubble. 

‘Did Julian really just say that?’ Danny thought. Hi brown eyes went wide as he looked into Julian’s beautiful eyes. “W-What did you just say?” His breathing was beginning to become uneven. 

“Happy birthday, Danny,” Julian leaned in and softly placed his lips on Danny’s. He briefly pulled back and smiled as he moved so he could swing a leg over Danny’s hips. “I love you, Bubs.” 

Tears began to pull from Danny’s eyes. “Thank you, Jules,” Danny mumbled before he connected their lips again. He slowly brought his hands up and tangled them in Julian’s hair. It was much longer than normal, but Danny kinda liked it because there was more to hold on to. 

When they both pulled back to breathe, Julian stared into Danny’s eyes with a content look, and then wiped away the tears that were rolling down his cheeks. “I love you, Danny. I-I haven’t really been able to express it because of all the headaches and nausea, but thank you for all you’ve done.” 

Both of Danny’s hands left Julian’s hair, and then the older man cupped the younger man’s face. “I-I just…” Danny began crying harder as he looked up into his Julian’s eyes. 

“Danny? What’s wrong, bubs?” 

Danny closed his eyes and shook his head. “I’m sorry Jules.” He rested his head back into the pillows as he let more tears fall. “I-I…” 

Julian sighed after a second and brought his hands up to Danny’s that were still on his face and lowered them down so they resting on Danny’s chest. “Danny?” 

Danny opened his eyes to see a sad Julian looking down at him. “I’m a terrible boyfriend! I’m so sorry!” 

“You are not,” Julian mumbled as he lowered himself and dug his face in the crook of Danny’s neck. “You’re the best. You’ve dealt with me through good and bad… I love you, Bubs.” His hot breath soothed Danny, just a little bit… But the older man couldn’t help but cry. 

Danny sobbed into Julian’s neck. “I-I walked away… I-I almost left you, Julian. I’m terrible! I don’t deserve you… I don’t deserve this!” 

Julian let out a breath before he squeezed Danny as tight as he could. Julian held Danny until the older man’s cries came to a stop. “Danny?” Jules asked as he lifted himself up and looked down at the broken man under him. Danny’s watery brown eyes looked up at Julian. “I understand. I-I didn’t like being the way I was either.” 

Danny stared up at Julian as he sniffled. “I-I’m terrible. I don’t want to see you like that again… You’ve been having so many good days…And… And you knew what today was… Jules…” A few more tears made their ways down Danny’s cheeks. 

Julian smiled a bit before ducking his head down and stuffing his face into the crook of Danny’s neck. “I-I could never forget your birthday, Bubs. I love you too much to do that.” 

Danny sucked in a breath as he brought his arms up and wrapped them around Julian’s (less than normal) muscular back. “Please don’t leave me again, Jules. Please. I don’t know if I can take it anymore.” 

“I-I’ll try not to, Bubs,” Julian mumbled into Danny’s warm skin. Julian lifted himself again so he could lock his blue eyes with Danny’s brown ones. “I never wanted to in the first place.” 

Danny sucked in a short breath before he moved one hand to cup Julian’s face, then tilted his head up to connect their lips in a slow, sweet, loving kiss. Julian quickly deepened the kiss and brought his hands up to tangle them in Danny’s dark hair. 

“I love you,” Julian mumbled as he pulled away and began to trail kisses to Danny’s jawline, down his neck, then to his chest… And didn’t stop until he got under the covers and to the waistband of Danny’s briefs. 

Danny’s hands instantly moved so they were clutching the sheets as all his muscles tensed. He really didn’t want to object as Julian hooked his fingers around the waistband and began to pull them down… But he had to. “J-Jules… I don’t think this is a good idea.”

Julian’s head popped out of the covers and his playful blue eyes had a questioning look. “And why is that, Dola?” 

Danny closed his eyes… He wanted to listen to the excitement shooting through his body… Through his dick… He sucked in a breath before opening his eyes to meet the loving ones looking up at him. “I don’t want you to over do it.” 

“Well, I want to treat you. I-It’s been a while, Danny. And it’s your birthday,” Julian quickly ducked his head back down and pulled Danny’s briefs to his knees… Before Danny knew it, Julian’s warm tongue began to run around his head. 

Yep, he was done for. 

An hour later, Danny had a very tired Julian softly snoring on his chest as he ran his hands through the younger man’s hair. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t miss it, because he did. He missed having Julian, his Julian, in his bed every night. 

In the days following, Julian had only good days, but nowhere near as good as on Danny’s birthday… Until a week after Thanksgiving. 

A week after thanksgiving, it seemed as if the old Jules was back to stay. In fact, Danny was finally able to drive him to practices where he watched the team (even if he really wanted to be out on the field it was better than nothing). The doctor also cleared him to do a bit of lifting under the supervision of one of the trainers, so Julian was really beginning to get back into the swing of things. 

One night in early December, while Danny and Julian were happily resting in bed when Julian let out a long sigh and then propped himself up on an elbow to look at Danny. Danny brought a hand up to Julian’s face and tilted his head. “What’s up, babe?”

“Can… Can I see the play where I got hurt,” Julian asked after a minute. He had his eyebrows scrunched together as he looked at Danny. 

Danny sighed and move his hand down to where it was on top of Julian’s. “I-I don’t know if I should show you, Jules.” 

“Please, Danny?” Julian put his puppy dog eyes as he looked at Danny. 

“I-I… Yeah… Okay.” He leaned over to grab his phone and pulled up the youtube app. Once he found the video he sighed and looked up at Julian. “This… This is going to be hard to watch.” 

Julian gave him a half nod. Danny pressed play and tilted the screen over in Julian’s direction. He didn’t want to see it. He saw it happen in person… And he knew what the results of the hit would be. As Danny looked away, he could feel Julian flinch next to him, and after a second Julian grabbed ahold of the phone and locked it. 

Next thing Danny knew was Julian had his head resting on his chest. “I-I’m sorry you had to see that… But… Thank you for taking care of me, Danny. I love you.” 

Danny nodded and kissed Julian’s forehead. “I-I’d do it all over again, Jules… I love you, too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's all Folks! 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this! 
> 
> What kinda Edelmendola fic should I write next? Let me know in the comments! 
> 
> Thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> I really hope you guys enjoyed. Let me know what you think! 
> 
> Thanks :)


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